The Island of Diamedea

In the island of Diamedea which lies in the Adriatic they say there is a temple of Diamedes, wonderful and holy. round the temple there sit in a circle birds of a large size having great hard beaks. If greeks land at the place keep quiet but if any of the barbarians who live around them approach they fly up and soaring in the air swoop down upon their hands and wounding them with their beaks kill them. Among the Umbrians they say that the cattle bring forth young three times in the year and that the earth yields many times more fruit than the seed that is sown. The women also are prolific and rarely bring forth only one